Chapter Five: The Chosen and the Marked
The aftermath of the battle left the city in eerie silence.
No cries. No roars. Only the heavy breathing of the survivors and the smoldering ruins surrounding them.
Kain stood up slowly, feeling the strange warmth still lingering on his skin where Vera's power had emerged.
The broken gate loomed ahead like a dead god, and fear still hung thick in the air.
Commander Pharos approached, sword lowered but eyes sharp.
"You," he said, pointing at Kain, "You carry one of the Vessels. Why now? Why here?"
Kain shook his head.
"I… I didn't even know it was inside me," he said, voice raw. "It just... spoke."
Pharos frowned, then motioned to his captains.
"Gather the survivors. And someone—find the High Seer. If the Gates are truly opening, we need guidance beyond steel."
**
Far beyond the city walls, deep beneath the mountains, other forces had already begun to move.
Seven figures cloaked in black gathered around a stone table, each bearing a brand on their hand—a symbol resembling a shattered sun.
"The First Vessel has awakened," one of them spoke, a woman with silver hair peeking from under her hood.
Another man, his voice like grinding metal, answered:
"And so, the first Chosen steps into the war. Shall we accelerate the plan?"
The leader at the head of the table, cloaked in deep crimson, tapped his fingers against the stone.
"No. Let the world crumble slowly. Fear will open the other Gates faster than force."
He turned, and for a fleeting moment, two blood-red eyes gleamed from within his hood.
"The boy… Kain… will either rise and claim his throne—or die screaming beneath it."
**
Back in the city, as soldiers began to rebuild defenses and tend to the wounded, Kain stood alone near the breach in the wall.
He stared at the open horizon beyond the gate, feeling the pull of something distant… something ancient.
In the corner of his eye, a faint figure appeared—a silhouette made of swirling mist and broken light.
It was Vera.
"You are no longer ordinary," Vera said without sound, voice resonating within Kain's mind.
"You are Marked by Origin. Destiny will chase you now. Friendships will break. Enemies will be born."
Kain clenched his fists.
"Then let them come," he thought.
"Let them all come."
Above the shattered city, the first stars of a new night blinked into existence, cold and merciless—witnesses to the beginning of an age that would drown the world in chaos.